Hotel Hell returns to FOX tonight with an all new episode of season 2 called, “Calumet Inn.” In this new episode, a historic hotel in Pipestone, Minn., is struggling due to sibling rivalry between its two owners.
On the last episode, Gordon Ramsay traveled to Starkville, MS, to The Hotel Chester, which was located right outside of a college campus. The hotel was a thriving business when it was first bought by David and Sukie Mollendor in 2000. But the hotel had since fallen apart, and the family’s financial struggles had forced the couple to file for bankruptcy. When the bank foreclosed on their home, the Mollendors moved into the hotel and Sukie took charge of the kitchen without any prior cooking experience. On the brink of giving up, the business was in desperate need of change. Did Ramsay get this hotel thriving again, or did David and Sukie lose the only thing that they had left? Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it we have a full and detailed recap, right here for you.
On tonight’s episode, Gordon Ramsay travels to Pipestone, MN, in a frustrating attempt to save a once-historic Midwestern hotel for two stubborn sisters. The Calumet Inn was given to Rina and Vanda as a gift from their father. But little did he know that his gift would become so problematic for the girls. With every member of the family unhappy, the sisters are forced to make a decision – should they shut down the hotel, sell it or hand over the responsibility of running it to a proper general manager? Find out if Ramsay can restore the historic inn.
You’re not going to want to miss tonight’s cool new episode of HELL’S KITCHEN which begins at 8PM EST on FOX. We’ll also be live blogging it for you right here. While you’re waiting for the show to start hit up our comments section and tell us your thoughts on the new season!
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In Minnesota is the Calumet Inn built back in 1887. Rina and Vanda were bought the hotel by their dad. He says they’re a little spoiled. Rina is also a bit of a cry baby. They owned it six weeks when Rina left for three months because working was an annoyance. Vanda sleeps til three pm every day and says she thinks people just come to work to get their paychecks. OMG!
Joselyn, front desk clerk and server, thinks the sisters are awful employers. The two sisters took all the duties away from Mandy the general manager that was running the joint when they bought it because they think they know better despite no experience. Their parents have had to move in to help them keep the hotel open. Their mom, Rita, says she works seven days a week and misses home.
The hotel is on the verge of shutting down. Joselyn is angry that they are playing with people’s lives and Mandy thinks if anyone can help them, it’s Gordon. He’s out in Minnesota and says it’s like Holland with no f-ing tulips. He pulls up to the hotel and finds a horrible entrance that looks like you’re coming into a prison. It’s the rear entrance and the only one that’s open.
He curses and goes to get a light – he can’t even see to get inside. He says maybe he should just f- off and go home now. He says it feels like The Goonies and calls out – Hey you guys. He is spotted by Mandy and she’s startled. She tells him she’s there alone today. She introduces herself and he says she should go watch her diners. She calls Kate to come downstairs.
Gordon tells her there’s a bulb out of the lamp and she says Jim took it out so people can’t turn the lights on. Vanda and Rina come out to meet him. He says they look young to run a hotel. They are 27 and 32. He asks why Mandy is serving and working the front desk. They tell him she’s the general manager. Rina says she’s not happy with Mandy’s work.
He goes to see a room and finds mold in a refrigerator. He asks where the wardrobe is. They point to a hanging rack hanging on the wall. He curses. He asks who the guy is that takes lightbulbs and they say it’s their dad. They explain their parents are there helping. Rina says she had to have the hotel once she saw it and talked her dad into it.
Vanda says they could have gotten it cheaper. She says she does the books and runs the front desk. She says her sister was in Minneapolis. She tells Gordon she needed some time away to get her head on straight. He asks Rina what she does and she says she’s still finding her place there.
Gordon asks if they stayed there before they bought it and Rina says she stayed one night. Gordon asks to see the room she stayed in. They take him to a room called Memorabilia. He points out pee stains on the wall paper. The girls say they have a lot of problems with the staff. Vanda says they always bitch and complain. She says they should be thanking them. Vanda says she always has to repeat herself.
He heads down for lunch. Joselyn takes his order and tells him she’s been there two years. He asks if her dad will buy her a hotel and she laughs. He asks for the soup of the day and then the fish and says it’s a huge menu. There are two chefs in the kitchen and he asks how they get fresh food with that much on the menu. The chef, Jennifer, says she wishes they could afford better ingredients. The microwave is in use. She says the sisters won’t spend.
Vanda says she would not spend her money here at the restaurant and says the food sucks. Mandy rushes by and then tells him she’s not general manager anymore. He asks if they had a falling out and she says no, they just think they’re all incompetent. She says Vanda is a borderline sociopath and Rina is never there.
Joselyn brings out the soup and Gordon tastes it. He says it smells burned. He tastes and says it is. He offers Joselyn a taste and she gags. He says it’s absolutely f-ing disgusting. He asks if the chef cares and she says no. He has the fish and it’s rock hard. Joselyn says it looks like crap and she wouldn’t eat it. It’s hard as a rock.
She tells him Rina isn’t there and Vanda doesn’t care. She says Vanda sleeps til three and keeps the bar open til five am. Gordon wants to talk to the kitchen staff. The sisters come out and tell Gordon they don’t eat there anymore because the food is bad. He asks Jennifer if she’s given up. She says she used to love her job and now hates it. She says the owners are bad.
Rina starts yelling and says they don’t get paid. Gordon snaps and yells at Rina and says they aren’t owners. Vanda gets snippy and Gordon tells her to shut it – he says they have turned the staff against them. Gordon tells them they are both only as good as the team under them. He tells them to grow up and stomps away.
Because Gordon is there, the guests are pouring in. He says he feels sorry for all of them. We see torn wall paper and all kinds of hideousness. In the kitchen, the food is a mess. Gordon comes into the kitchen to help. He asks how they can keep standards with a menu this big. He asks where Rina is since they are busy. He heads upstairs to find her and hears crying.
He finds her in a room hiding and crying. He asks to come in and asks if it’s her bedroom. She’s there with Rita, her mom. He asks if she’s okay. She says she didn’t want to be around people. He asks her mom if she always runs away when things get hard and her mom says yes. Rina says they should have purchased a duplex instead and he says it’s a bit late to do this.
He asks if she can hold the reins. She says she needs room to grow. He tells her to get changed, get a grip and come downstairs to face the music. The guests, he says, have more reason to cry. They complain to Gordon about the food. He says the place is a train wreck. Mandy is hard at work and Gordon asks to talk to her. She wants to tell him if there’s no change, everyone will leave.
Gordon tells her she acts more like the owner than the girls. She says Vanda is a micromanager who’s cynical and she won’t help and doesn’t care. She says Rina is a pansy. He asks what Rina is good at and she says crying. She says they should have worked in the real world first. She says people there are about to explode.
She says the owners don’t respect them. Gordon tells Mandy she’s the only shining light in the building and if it wasn’t for her, they’d be f-d. He pulls the owners and staff together. Kristi, a cook, says she comes in and works and they don’t do anything. Mandy says the owners demonstrate passive aggressive behavior. The owners tell their staff they have attitude.
Mandy tells them she’s f-ing done after they tell her she’s not committed. She calls them stupid bitches. Mandy says she works 60 hours a week and has two kids. She says she’s done. She gets in her truck and goes. Joselyn says with Mandy gone the rest will likely go. Rina starts to get snippy and Gordon tells them that Mandy kept the hotel open for them. Jenn gets angry and Rina tells them they have no clue how hard she works.
Gordon tells them if they were his kids, he’d throw them out. He tells one to step up. He says they don’t f-ing deserve the place. Rina says she thought Gordon was going to be nice to her. Holy hell. Those women are idiots.
Next morning, Gordon heads downstairs. He finds Joslyn at the desk. He says he wants to go to the gym. She says they don’t have one and points him to one outside. He asks where and she says down the street at a rec center. He heads down the street in his bathrobe cursing and says sod that. He can’t believe what idiots the owners are.
He goes to see Vanda and then brings Rina in as well to talk to some of the guests. He asks them to tell the owners the truth. One says the room is a shame and is neglected. Rina says it was run down when they got there. Another says she came in the back way. A woman says she has severe allergies and her room is caked in dust. Her fiancee says it’s a health hazard.
Gordon asks if any of the would come back and they all say no. He apologizes to them. He sits the girls down and asks if they are capable of running the hotel. Rina says when she’s got her mind on things, she can accomplish them. He asks her to name one thing she’s accomplished on her own. She says she had a job in fast food when she was 14. He’s stunned.
He asks Vanda if she and her sister are capable of running the place. Rina starts the waterworks again and then says she can run the place on their own. Gordon says he wouldn’t ask them to run his dog up a hill much less a hotel. He thinks they are completely f-ing useless. He says there is only one person that can help him save it – he goes to see Mandy to try and get her back.
He says if he can’t get her back, he’s going to tell them to close the door tonight. They go to sit in her yard and he says she had every right to walk out. He says she’s a bloody good general manager and asks if she got absolute control, would she come back. She says she doesn’t like them and isn’t sure it would work after all that’s been said. She says she doesn’t know. He begs her to think about it then leaves.
Gordon wonders if the sisters are capable of change. He goes to talk to their mom. She invites him in. He tells her it smells good up here. She’s cooking curry and he asks about the recipe. She says she just makes it up. He tastes and says it’s perfect. He says it’s the best food he’s had since he’s been here. He asks how often she cooks for her daughters and she says seven days a week.
He asks the last time she’s had a break and she says never. Gordon says the girls treat her like a personal chef. He pulls the girls and her parents together. He says they should never have bought them the hotel. The parents admit they don’t want to be there. He asks Vanda if she wants to be there and she says no. Rina says she’s not happy there either.
Gordon asks her again and Rina says no. He says she needs to go back to Minneapolis and back to the city. She starts f-ing crying again. Really? She thanks him and says she’d been afraid to say it. Gordon tells them they are all trapped in the hotel. He tells them to decide as a family if they want to bring in a proper general manager to run it, sell it or run it themselves.
Later, Gordon pulls the staff in to hear the decision. Rina and Vanda apologize to the staff and says they’ve made a decision that will turn the staff around. Vanda says they are stepping out of the picture completely. Gordon brings in the new general manager – it’s Mandy, the old general manager. The women all applaud.
Gordon says he’s happy she’s back. He tells Mandy that they’re leaving. Rina says she always wanted a true general manager to run it and says she just wants to come occasionally and help decorate. Vanda says she has full confidence that Mandy can do it. Gordon says they are reopening under new management tomorrow.
Next day, he welcomes them all back to see the makeover. Inside, he shows them the guest rooms. They’ve been stripped of the old paper, painted and bright new paint, new mattresses and linens too. He shows them how bright it is. There are proper wardrobes instead of rails. There are custom drapes around the jacuzzi tubs.
Vanda is blown away. Gordon shows them a new addition and says it’s his new favorite thing – it’s a gym. It’s small, but a nice little fitness center. Rina says it’s perfect. Downstairs, he sits them in the dining room and says he has something that will put the hotel on the map. He has Rita’s recipes on the menu. He has Rita’s Thai specials featured. He brings out dishes for everyone to try.
Rita says it’s excellent and she’s excited to see her food on the menu. She’s in tears. The chefs put on their new coats and are ready for the first night. They hand out new menus and Jenn is thrilled to be at work on the new menu. The parents are sitting down to dinner. The sisters are lurking and interfering after promising to be out of the way. Vanda shows her ignorance and Gordon says he has to step in.
Gordon asks the sisters what they’re doing. He tells them to stop swanning around is f- all helpful. He tells them to get back upstairs and pack and get out. He wants the sisters gone. Mandy calls up and tells them the taxi is there. Gordon tells them to go and says good luck. He has a goldfish for each of them and says it’s to teach them responsibility.
Vanda says she’s going to go pursue her dreams. She wants to travel and be happy. Rina is crying again. She says she’s ready to go and show the world what she’s capable of. Gordon says they were spoiled brats playing at running a hotel. He says the key to the hotel turn around was Mandy coming back and being a proper GM. He kisses Mandy on both cheeks and says he can’t wait to come back.
She says she feels like a whole new person and thanks Gordon for believing in her. He says he hopes the goldfish survive and says it’s 50/50.
THE END!